Israel to Spare No Effort in Hindering Iran Setting Up Military Base in Syria - Minister

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th September, 2018) Israel will do everything in its power to thwart the establishment of an Iranian Mediterranean military base on Syrian territory, Israeli Minister for Jerusalem Affairs Zeev Elkin told Sputnik on Thursday.

"We will continue our activities, we will do everything possible to prevent Iran from strengthening its military presence in Syria, [to prevent] missiles targeted at Israel from appearing there, [to prevent] the creation of military airfields there and the setting up an Iranian military port in the Mediterranean," Elkin said.

When Israel draws a red line, it usually knows how to act so that this line is not crossed, according to Elkin.

Iran, alongside Russia and Turkey, is the guarantor state of the Syrian truce. Syrian President Bashar Assad has said that only Iranian officers, not troops, were operating in his country.

Israel, Tehran's long-time regional opponent, has repeatedly expressed security concerns over Iranian military presence next to its borders in Syria.

Iran has, however, said that its presence in Syria was coordinated with Moscow and Damascus and does not have to be agreed with Israel.

In late August, media reported, citing sources, that Iran had been delivering short-range ballistic missiles to its Shiite allies in Iraq and helping the groups to start producing their own weapons over the past few months.

These claims have been refuted by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, which said they were aimed at perpetuating political threats against Iran.

"We can see [these reports] and we consider the whole range of Iranian activities in the middle East with concern. Iran is using every opportunity to destabilize the situation in the region by propping various terror organizations and by attempting to carry out the Shia expansion project, to create a large crescent-like empire from the Mediterranean to the Gulf," Elkin said, when asked to comment on the reports about Iran's support for the Iraqi Shiite militias.

The Israeli minister noted that Iran's Shia crescent project was dangerous not only for Israel but for the whole Sunni world and the European civilization because Iran posed a threat to global stability.

In 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. The deal stipulates the gradual removal of the West's sanctions against Tehran in exchange for the Middle Eastern country abandoning its nuclear weapons program.

Israel has been claiming, however, that Tehran maintains its nuclear weapons program despite its obligations under the deal, something Iran has repeatedly denied.